


Doomed, But Just Enough

by I_Write_Sins_and_Tragedies



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Blood, Bro is not an asshole in this, Dave's POV, Fix-it fic, Gen, I probably totally bullshitted how Dave's powers actually work but oh well, Mentions of Major Character Death, Time Shenanigans, Time Travel Fix-It, great liberties with time travel, it's a brief mention of it but it's there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 13:50:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20967599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Write_Sins_and_Tragedies/pseuds/I_Write_Sins_and_Tragedies
Summary: It seemed like such a simple solution, really. Late nights and shared regrets should have brought about such an epiphany through careful consideration and calculated discussion. Not some off-handed, bitter suggestion from Rose that stopped you both in your proverbial tracks."I don't suppose you could actually...?" It was as if she was afraid to even say it."Don't see why I couldn't."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Listen. Listen. I know I'm completely fucking up the sequence of events with this AU. But that's why it's an AU.

It seemed like such a simple solution, really. Late nights and shared regrets should have brought about such an epiphany through careful consideration and calculated discussion. Not some off-handed, bitter suggestion from Rose that stopped you both in your proverbial tracks.

You look at her like she just presented the cure to cancer. She looks at you like a woman who just stumbled upon the cure to cancer. Neither of you seem to think about blinking, breathing, or generally functioning as normal living beings for a few moments.

"I don't suppose you could actually...?" It was as if she was afraid to even say it.

"Don't see why I couldn't. Doomed timelines are like paradox-free bargain bins. Buy one, get one free 'cause nothing matters anymore and it's not like you can doom that shit any harder. As long as it doesn't affect everything leading into the whole Davesprite deal, we're as golden as a gaggle of elderly women on daytime TV." 

It's been a long time since you've seen Rose smile like that. You pray to whatever's out there you can validate that guarded hope in her eyes.

"Then perhaps you could use the help of someone who has a considerable wealth of knowledge regarding good fortune." 

You allow yourself a half-smile, and even with your shades still in place, you're sure she can still see your own carefully contained excitement.

"Yeah, perhaps I could."

~ * * * ~

The trickiest part is making sure you don't irreparably fuck up the timeline. Because sure, you _should_ be able to theoretically pluck a lot of things out of a doomed timeline with no consequences. But the alpha timeline's a finicky bastard, and there's no telling just what taking entire people out of the picture could do. 

You have to be sure you take them out at the right time, the right place. Preferably without alerting doomed Rose and Dave soon-to-be-a-sprite. But if they notice you, it's all cool. They aren't like Jade and John (really just John); if you curtly tell them you can't say anything for the sake of the alpha timeline's integrity, then they'll leave you be. They know better than to risk dooming another timeline.

Wow, you better not mention making a drinking game out of all the times the word 'timeline' comes up. You don't think even Rose's god-like liver would survive that.

Not that she's currently drinking. You haven't seen her this resolute about staying sober since...well, actually, you don't think you've ever seen her making a concerted effort to kick her little (big) problem. She's gone cold turkey though, and sure, it's made her a bit sharper around the edges. But it's cool, it seems to help her really get that laser focus thing going.

You're pretty sure she's taking all the misery she's feeling from it and recycling its energy for the task at hand. Which is to say, developing a fraymotif between the two of you that will allow Rose to zero in on the most ideal point in time for you to jump back. 

You don't need excess time. You just need to find who you're looking for. Then it's simply a matter of exerting a little more of your powers, and you're home free. 

Thankfully, it doesn't seem like you'll have to drop in at the last moment.

Rose doesn't tell you when in the timeline you need to go. With your powers layering over each other's, you can feel that knowledge sink into you bone-deep; unshakeable in its truth and certainty. You wonder vaguely if this is what it always feels like for Rose when she uses her powers and searches for answers. 

You wonder if she can feel your aspect as much as you can feel hers. If she can feel the heavy _tick, tick, ticking_ of time thumping in the back of her skull, synchronizing her heartbeat to it, the way you can feel her light warming your body from the inside out. You wonder if it's just as disconcerting to her as it is to you.

Discomfort aside, though, you know it's working. You can feel a pull inside of you that's more than familiar. That gut instinct that you never argued with, back when you were stitching together time loops like the biggest, most exhausting quilt known to paradox space. 

Your eyes meet Rose's through your shades, and she locks gazes with you. There's an air of certainty around you two, and a wordless exchange comes and goes in a blink. You nod to her. She nods to you. With that settled, you shut your eyes with a deep breath.

And then you will yourself to follow the white rabbit of your intuition and slide backwards. You feel the pull against every fiber of your being and you don't fight it, just let yourself melt away as seconds tick by in reverse and your whole world narrows down to just you. Just you, in this moment of motionless movement, readjusting your place in existence like you're a pebble in Time's big, sweaty shoe.

It's almost anticlimactic, how quickly you reground yourself in the timeline. Not the alpha timeline anymore, no. You can feel it, just faintly. That sense of something set a little farther to the left than it should be, just slightly out of place. You don't belong here. You never belonged here, never were here personally. 

That doesn't stop you from appearing somewhere on LOHAC with a decisive _tock_ sounding off in the back of your head. 

Looking around, you can recognize the place where you landed easily. It's the temple where you found Caledfwlch, though you know it's already empty. Stripped of its treasure, cleaned out of its monsters. 

A perfect place to totally inconspicuously fracture yourself into six different Daves. Doing it sits like a rock in your gut, because this is a direct betrayal of your once iron-willed decree that you were done for good with time travel. But this is for a good cause, and you know it. All six of you do, because all of you are exactly the same. Same timeframe, same experiences, same desires, same goal.

You uncaptchalog your phone and break another long-standing oath of yours. You open up a gog-damn memo.

CURRENT turntechGodhead [CTG1] RIGHT NOW opened private transtimeline bulletin board motherfuckin time travel

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CURRENT turntechGodhead [CTG1] opened memo on board motherfuckin time travel.

CURRENT turntechGodhead [CTG2] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CURRENT turntechGodhead [CTG3] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CURRENT turntechGodhead [CTG4] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CURRENT turntechGodhead [CTG5] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CURRENT turntechGodhead [CTG6] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.

CTG2: wow fuck no we are color coding this shit or using ironic nicknames i am not dealing with this bright red six-way clusterfuck  
CTG3: agreed  
CTG4: dave covering lohac stays red dave covering lowas goes blue dave covering lolar goes green dave covering skaia goes black dave covering prospit goes orange dave covering derse goes purple  
CTG2: done and done  
CTG3: deal  
CTG1: gotcha  
CTG5: right  
CTG6: kay  
CTG4: cool then lets go find these fuckers

CTG4 closed memo.

You all indulge in the formality of looking around at each other and exchanging one perfectly in-synch cool dude nod, and then you split.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Rolls over* Wow pesterlogs are a clusterfuck of dense text. If y'all are ever planning on doing something like this, I'd recommend checking out the user sburbanite. Their how-to guide for pesterlog formatting is entertaining and suuuper helpful. This would take thrice as long without their cheat-sheet.


	2. Chapter 2

**==> Skaia Dave: Realize Skaia is fucking huge.**

Of course it's huge. It's the closest thing to a sun in the Incipisphere. Planets revolve around this shit. Not that they're actually revolving. They just kinda...sit there. Which is great for you, or else you'd probably have to account for their orbit with every temporal jump you made. And that is a headache you abso-fucking-lutely do not need. 

Not when you've already got to deal with making _even more fucking Daves_ once you realize that there's no way you can check the entire battlefield plus weird chess-tube-ring alone. 

At this rate, you're shaping up for literal days of time loops.

_Again_.

Ugh, you thought you were past this shitty stage in your life, but apparently not. It would be great if Rose were here to help you with a little bit of fortune-snooping, but she's stuck in the present. No point in bringing her along and risking the timeline more, anyways. You can deal. You've dealt with this before, you'll just do it again. No biggie.

...Except for the fact that Skaia is, in fact, a fucking biggie. The biggest damn biggie of them all.

This is going to take a while. 

**==> LOHAC Dave: Aw, fuck.**

It was practically inevitable, when you think about it. Davesprite didn't tell you exactly what he was up to during those four doomed months, but you had a pretty good idea. What with being the same person and everything. 

You knew he'd be ranging around LOHAC, and you knew you'd have the highest probability of running into him. Especially since you made a couple more Daves to help you out, 'cause this is still a fucking planet you're searching through, and the guardians could be anywhere. They could be anywhere and _mobile_. 

Oh yeah, you're searching for the guardians if that wasn't already obvious.

Useless redundant mental notes aside. Searching for them solo was never really in the question, even if there were technically already six of you. You're sure the other alpha timeline Daves came to the same conclusion with their respective hunting grounds. Even Prospit Dave, the lucky bastard.

Still, you held out that frail little bit of hope that you wouldn't come face to face with not-yet-a-sprite Dave. But does that still happen? Of fucking course it does. 

"Welp." You utter, flat and devoid of emotion. Still, there's a tingle of instinctive fear running through you as you stare down this alt version of yourself. You could potentially doom your entire timeline with this encounter.

"Welp. Guess for some reason I'm going to make a pair of fancy-ass pajamas with a cape sometime in the future? Even though it's already hot as balls here and we seriously don't need any more layers. I'm sweating so much I could kick start this whole damn planet's water system as it is." 

Fuck, he thinks he's going to turn into you eventually. Of course he does, why wouldn't he? That was the assumption you always made whenever you saw a Dave you didn't recognize running around. Why would this guy be any different?

Except that if he thinks that he's going to do be you eventually, then he might change the way things happen. And you really can't have that.

"Nah, I'm from a timeline like ten steps removed from you, dude. Don't worry about it." You shrug, maintaining your nonchalance like a pro. This should work. Just keep your cool and don't sweat it. (Even though you really are sweating like crazy because FUCK LOHAC.) He's you, you're him, you would get it if you were in his position. 

Fuck, why is he lifting an eyebrow at you.

"So you're like, double-doomed or what?" 

Wow. Dooming yourself because you deliberately went into a doomed timeline in an attempt at improving the alpha timeline would be pretty ironic, huh? 

"Guess that depends on you. If you don't change course or whatever and just keep doing what you were doing before seeing me, things should be fine." 

He's still lifting that damn eyebrow, because as far as he's concerned, that answer probably doesn't line up with how he thinks your powers work. From his perspective at least, he'd be right probably. But hey, time travel is all about accepting other perspectives, and he seems to get that since he shrugs in short order.

"Yeah, okay."

"Cool. If you see any Daves you don't recognize running around here, don't sweat it. Either you'll become them eventually or it's just me doing my thing."

"Uh huh..." He's eyeing you behind his shades. You know because you would be too, if you were in his position. It's fair to be incredulous though; even with your chill as fuck attitude towards these things, you get why he's weirded out. "What are you even up to anyways? Like, this is already going pretty far into left field, even for me. And also you look a little taller, so what the fuck is that about?"

Shit. Time to shut this down in a way you know will be effective.

"No can say, bro. We're kind of already toeing the line towards creating a doomed timeline by even talking like this. For me, at least. Listen this'll make sense for you later, alright? So long as things stay on track the way they're supposed to here, you'll probably be glad for it. Just like, maybe hold off on asking about it after you jump back to the alpha timeline. You'll find out sometime after the first day." 

You both stare at each other for a long few moments. You know you're asking a lot here, but you're also risking a lot. 

Thank goodness you aren't like Karkat and actually understand different iterations of yourself, because eventually-Davesprite gives you a curt nod after a little more thought.

"Fine. Should Rose know about this or what? Not that it's easy to make her not know about things lately. Her flighty broad-o-meter's going off the charts with this seer thing starting to kick off."

"Yeah, I know. Try to keep her out of the loop. Not like you don't have an easy excuse, anyways." You shrug, he shrugs, you both nod. Talking to yourself has always been easy.

"Alright. So..." He glances you over again. 

"So. I gotta get going, then." You glance him over too. For a guy who was complaining about layers, he sure is rocking that suit. Not that you weren't rocking suits during that first day too, heatstroke be damned. 

"Yeah. See you eventually, I guess."

"Yeah. See you."

You two spend one more moment regarding each other. One Dave to another. And then you turn at the same time and go your separate ways. 

**==> Derse Dave: I'm not even gonna ask.**

At this point, you've already accepted that guardians are all insane. You'd already accepted long ago that Jade's grandpa was a special kind of insane, like your Bro but different. You saw the inside of Jade's house, you knew that man found and hoarded a hell of a lot of weird shit. 

You never really bothered to question exactly where or how he got most of his stuff.

You're kind of questioning it now, though.

You mean, where the fuck did he even _get_ a Prospitan battleship? The battlefield shouldn't even be fully developed in this timeline, one of those shouldn't have been laying around at all!

But you said you weren't going to ask. So you're not going to. 

Hell, you're just thankful you even found him this easily. It's a long flight to Derse, and having this trip go to waste would be a kick in the balls. As it is, you've probably had the easiest time of it compared to the other Daves. 

You technically hadn't even started searching yet, since you're about halfway to Derse. But here's Harley, glaringly obvious as can be. Geez, how did doomed Rose and Davesprite even miss this guy?

...Wait. Oh. Ohhh, it was you. You're the reason. They weren't completely fucking oblivious, you just meddled. Motherfucking time travel, man. 

Whatever. Landing behind him silently is easy. He doesn't even twitch, still looking ahead with both hands on the ship's wheel. Completely oblivious to the fact that you're about to turn his entire world right on its geriatric head.

"Yo." You greet, cool as ever. He begins turning, but you only wait until he's let go of the wheel before you flick your hand. A flash of red, the afterimage of a clock and spinning gears, and he's gone.

CURRENT turntechGodhead 6 [CTG6] RIGHT NOW opened memo on board motherfuckin time travel. 

CTG6: okay harleys dealt with but now i have a huge fuck off bright yellow battle ship set on a collision course for derse  
FUTURE turntechGodhead 1 [FTG1] 5 HOURS FROM NOW responded to memo.  
FTG1: dont sweat it dude just spin the wheel aim for pspace and let that shit go  
CTG6: yeah i figured  
CTG6: hows skaia treating you  
FTG1: like a festering pile of dog shit  
FTG1: im tied up in like two days worth of time loops here and are the magic oracle clouds helping  
FTG1: fuck no theyre just showing me weird shit that doesnt help a damn thing  
FTG1: no wonder jade was always out of it when she was dreaming its like a series of disjointed rorschach colorations flung against the wall by a toddler having a verified shitfit  
CTG6: well once i finish saving derse from titanic 2.0 and check it over i can come back to help out maybe  
CTG6: assuming you arent finished by then the flight to and from is slow as shit  
FTG1: yeah no kidding  
FTG1: anyways i gotta get going  
FTG1: lotta ground to cover  
CTG6: yeah 

CTG6 closed memo.

Well, at least it's not a hard thing to fix on your end. You'll never admit that maybe turning the wheel is a little difficult (seriously, how strong can one old man be?), but you get it done. Then it's just a matter of quickly splitting yourself up and sweeping the ship for any more passengers, then getting gone.

Hopefully Rose won't be awake on Derse yet. Or at the very least, you hope she's awake somewhere other than the moon. Searching is going to be a pain in the ass if you have to tiptoe around her.


	3. Chapter 3

\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 18:04 --

TT: To what do I owe the pleasure of numerous Daves gallivanting throughout my planet?  
TG: calling it gallivanting makes it sound so stupid  
TT: My apologies. To what do I owe the pleasure of numerous Daves purposefully exploring my planet while apparently lacking any knowledge as to what they are looking for, then?  
TG: there see that sounds way better than gallivanting  
TT: Indeed. But you are avoiding the question.  
TG: im not avoiding shit lalonde jegus cant a man have a moment to type  
TG: to answer your burning question isnt gathering info the point of our continued existence in this shitstain of a timeline  
TG: cant gather info if you dont purposefully explore places despite not knowing shit about what youre looking for right  
TT: I suppose that's true. Though I must say, I am surprised to see you using your powers to such an extent. I was under the impression that creating and maintaining a large number of stable time loops is tiring.  
TG: it is  
TG: but hey may as well get some good practice in right i mean eventually im gonna be an orange feathery asshole spirit guide to the alpha dave  
TG: getting some hands on experience to pass on cant hurt  
TT: Yes, improving ourselves for the alpha timeline's benefit is all we can really hope for at this point.  
TG: story of our lives right now  
TG: anyway im gonna run  
TG: i can hear fucking calsprite nearby and i want to extend my time in the obnoxious laughter free zone for as long as possible  
TT: Of course. Best of luck in your evasions.  
TG: thanks i guess  
TG: talk later

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] at 18:11 --

CURRENT turntechGodhead [CTG] joined private transtimeline bulletin board motherfuckin time travel.

CURRENT turntechGodhead [CTG] opened memo on board motherfuckin time travel.

CTG: okay whatever the fuck youre doing you need to do it a little less obviously cause rose is noticing shit and when rose notices shit she notices all the shit  
FUTURE turntechGodhead 5 [FTG5] 2 HOURS FROM NOW responded to memo.  
FTG5: all of it?  
CTG: why do i feel like im not privy to some prime memeage going on right here  
FUTURE turntechGodhead 3[FTG3] 4 HOURS FROM NOW responded to memo.  
FTG3: you are dont worry about it  
FTG3: also sorry about the rose thing theres only so much you can do when youre up to your neck in dave  
FUTURE turntechGodhead 3L [FTG3L] 4 HOURS FROM NOW responded to memo.  
FTG3L: my bad i was checking out a hidden passage near her house and im about as camouflaged as a flamingo in a snowstorm like this  
CTG: oh for fucks sake how many of you are running around right now  
FTG3: not sure  
FTG3: there were six of us to begin with one for each planet moon skaia w/e and im pretty sure all of us split up even more once we got there  
FTG3: ive got seventeen daves including myself on lolar right now  
CTG: seventeen  
CTG: that is an absolutely preposterous amount of daves  
CTG: also way more daves than ive ever made at once before jegus no wonder rose was mentioning lots of daves  
CTG: and youre saying there are even more of you  
FTG3: on pretty much every planetary body in the incipisphere yeah  
CTG: do i even wanna know  
CURRENT turntechGodhead 4 [CTG4] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CTG4: nope unless you wanna possibly endanger another timeline's integrity  
CTG: fuck no  
CTG4: cool im gonna ban you then  
CTG4: no hard feelings just dont wanna take any risks you know  
CTG: yeah i get it  
CTG: good luck with whatever the fuck then  
CTG4: yeah thanks

CTG4 banned CTG from board motherfuckin time travel.

CTG3 closed memo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**==> Prospit Dave: Find something amazing!**

Not much to report, really. Prospit's pretty sweet, if bright enough to scald your retinas if you were dumb enough to remove your shades. It's completely empty of any meddlesome players, so you're having an easy time just running around checking shit out, peeping up some clouds, getting your search on.

There are only about ten of you running around right now. Prospit's a hell of a lot smaller than the planets and all, so you don't have to go quite as all out as, say, Skaia Dave. Poor sucker. Maybe you'll help him out once you finish up here. 

Not that you're finishing up at record speeds or anything. Prospit is small, but it's dense with architecture. The number of little nooks, crannies, hallways, and buildings to check over is making up for the lack of sheer size. If any guardians are here and on the move, you could very well spend forever going around in circles. Not that you will. If push comes to shove, you can always make more Daves until there's no place left to hide.

But only if you have no other choice. 

As it is, you're not that desperate. You could almost enjoy the picturesque cathedral you've found yourself in. It's photogenic as hell, and you could probably snap some seriously nice pics of the place if you had your camera on you. 

Skaialight is shining in through the tall stained glass windows, keeping the place a surprisingly comfortable temperature and casting mirages of color across the polished floors. The red velvet rug you've been travelling down for a while now is high quality and trimmed with gold, giving a richer feel to the place.

You almost expect a throne room when you step through a set of intricately carved double doors. It almost looks like one, too. 

The carpet stretches down the center of a large chamber lined with windows and pillars. At the end, there are a couple stone steps that span the breadth of the entire room. Those give way to a raised platform housing two tall, carefully crafted looking thrones. Except the seats are large, long rectangles that make them look like the most uncomfortable lawn chairs ever.

When you get closer, you notice some silver inscriptions on the backrests of the thrones, right around head height, and your mouth suddenly goes dry.

"The Hero of Space" and "The Hero of Breath", carved out in beautiful calligraphy, one title to a chair. And suddenly, the 'seats' make sense.

They aren't seats at all. Looking at them up close now, you can recognize them as stone coffins.

"Shit." You mutter. You didn't think the Prospitans buried John and Jade. You weren't even sure if they'd noticed their lack of heroes; especially since one of them hadn't even made it into this timeline's session.

But they had, and now you're facing Davesprite's old reality head on. 

Hearing about your friends dying in another timeline is one thing. Staring at their graves is a whole other pony, and you didn't sign up for this ride.

"Knight."

You nearly jump out of your skin. The voice that rang out behind you was steady, feminine, and held a note of authority that assured you the person speaking is someone who knows that they're in charge.

Turning around guarantees that.

You've never seen a White Queen before, but it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. This tall, almost imposing figure dressed in a pale grey fur coat and wearing a crown couldn't be anyone else. Strangely, she doesn't seem to be transformed or altered in any way, but you guess there wouldn't be any reason for her to wear the ring when there isn't a war to wage. 

"Have you come to mourn?" Somehow, you think she already knows that isn't the answer. There's a prompt hidden in her tone that you can just pick out. It's the kind of tone Bro used when you were younger, back when he found out you'd done something that you'd tried to keep secret and he knew, and you knew he knew, and he knew you knew he knew, and so on.

Bro never sounded this smooth, though.

"Nah, don't got time for that. I'm sure they'd get it, though. I mean, what am I supposed to even do here, get on my knees and weep like a widow?" You try to shrug it off, but the queen doesn't seem put off by your flippancy. She tips her head ever so slightly, all the grace of a cat.

"Some have." 

You...don't know what you're supposed to say to that. Thankfully, it seems like she knows as much, because she starts talking a moment later. Just at the same time, she begins walking towards you, slow and deliberate. You don't feel threatened. 

"I have watched as you travel around Prospit. Are you searching for something?" 

You don't know if you can tell her. You don't know what she did or didn't do in this timeline and how you might affect that. But you also feel like she might be a good source of info. Whether that's lingering effects from your fraymotif with Rose or your own desperation, you don't know.

"Yeah. Like looking for a needle in a haystack, though. Except there are four needles and six haystacks and those needles could be anywhere, doing anything, moving themselves around and maybe even jumping haystacks because they just don't wanna be found or something." If you keep it vague, it should be alright. Just play it cool, as always.

The queen doesn't seem perturbed by your rambling, at least. She hums, low and contemplative, as if she's genuinely considering how to help you. By now she's about halfway across the room, and her head turns away from you and towards one of the large windows.

"Prospit's moon will eclipse Skaia very shortly. The visions granted to those who look to the clouds become particularly vivid at that time. Perhaps you will see something that will help you."

"Yeah, maybe. Worth a shot, anyway." You stroll over to the nearest window. The glass isn't stained lower down, as if it was made with cloud gazing in mind. Probably was, actually. Which is hella convenient for you, 'cause you can see Skaia starting to drift into view already. 

In your periphery, you can see the White Queen following suit a little ways away. Every move she makes is graceful and calculated. Smoother than any living being you've ever seen before. Smoother than Rose, than Bro. The level of self control that must go into motions like that is enviable, but you don't have time to stare.

Skaia is beginning to dominate the horizon. As you peer up at it, you can see the clouds drifting across its vast expanse. At first, it doesn't seem like they're anything but puffs of white. Nondescript, unimportant. Timing is everything though, and you know it. It doesn't take much longer before the timing is right.

The clouds seem to almost jump free of Skaia's orbit, floating quickly towards Prospit as their once blank surfaces begin to color and take on shape. One after another like toy soldiers, the clouds march farther into view before dissipating, taking with them flashes of people and places. Of objects, of events. And as you watch, you start to learn. 

CURRENT turntechGodhead 5 [CTG5] RIGHT NOW opened memo on board motherfuckin time travel.

CTG5: got some sweet prospitan cloud intel  
CTG5: pretty sure dadbert and momlonde are on skaia together  
CTG5: and  
CTG5: bros on lowas


	4. Chapter 4

**==> Skaia Dave: Finally find some guardians.**

You FINALLY find Egbert and Lalonde seniors. The lovebirds are holed up in some castle having a fucking picnic (and you will strangle the next Dave to make a Mario reference), entirely oblivious to the can of temporal-displacement whoopass you're about to unleash on them.

You don't give even give them a chance. The moment you get within range, you send them off, and you could weep for fucking joy at having that task dealt with. 

Sure, you sound a little over dramatic. You might almost maybe even admit just a little bit that you sometimes are. But you have been searching this checkered nightmare of a square planet for literal days, and you are so ready to lie face-down on the dirt and sleep.

Not that you're going to, even if you're heading back to the planet where you did pretty much exactly that. At least, the face in dirt part. You don't think you slept at all throughout that first day, aside from the times when you were forced to. 

Regardless of your sleeping habits, you're going back to LOWAS. Can't say you're too jazzed about the prospect. Especially considering that the last time you saw Bro there, he was lying in the largest pool of blood you've ever seen, and it was all his own.

...Okay, not thinking about that. Nope. You are going to think about completing all of your stray time loops here, and then getting your ass over to LOWAS to help search for the sneaky bastard. Prospit Dave's info was good on your end, but Bro is still a verified ninja. The dude's not gonna be easy to track just because you have him narrowed down to one planet.

You just have to fulfil all these temporal obligations before you go help. Ugh. This is why you made a bunch of other assholes to help.

**==> Skaia Dave: Be another asshole trying to help.**

Yes, that is you. You are a Dave, most certainly an asshole, and you're trying to help. You've been roving around LOWAS for hours, trying to hunt down your indisputably more-assholish brother. The dude isn't easy to find, even if Prospit Dave confirmed he was here and Skaia Dave vouched for that info.

Not that you aren't trying, though. You sure as hell have, barely even slowing down to read memos. Much less reply to them.

...Huh. Actually.

CURRENT turntechGodhead 2 [CTG2] RIGHT NOW opened memo on board motherfuckin time travel.

CTG2: im gonna try pestering bro  
CTG2: maybe if i just challenge that asshole to a duel in front of the huge ass castle thing he wont be able to resist the drama points  
CTG2: at the very least maybe hell hang around and one of you assholes can spot him  
FUTURE turntechGodhead 1 [FTG1] 12 HOURS FROM NOW responded to memo.  
FTG1: my hands are kind of tied right now  
FTG1: got a shit ton of time loops to deal with on skaia  
CURRENT turntechGodhead 5 [CTG5] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CTG5: ill be there ive been cleaning up my loops since i finished playing cloud reader  
PAST turntechgodhead 6 [PTG6] 1 HOUR FROM NOW responded to memo.  
PTG6: still flying back from derse, eta one fucking hour i guess  
CURRENT turntechGodhead 3 [CTG3] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CTG3: on my way i only have a couple more loops to stabilize  
CURRENT turntechGodhead 4 [CTG4] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CTG4: ditto i shouldnt be more than like 15 minutes  
CTG2: cool ill text him in ten and then head for the castle  
CTG2: between four of us we should be able to pin him down long enough to back to the future his ass  
CTG5: pretty sure we can end this with a collective 'k'  
CTG2: i am not being ked by myself 

CTG2 closed memo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**==> LOWAS Dave: Pester Bro.**

\-- CURRENT turntechGodhead 2 [CTG2] began pestering torrentialTantamount [TT] \--

CTG2: wind castle. strife. now.  
TT: What's with new look?  
CTG2: motherfuckin time travel bro  
CTG2: its kinda my thing  
TT: Right. So there are two of you right now.  
CTG2: dude honestly there could be fifty of me right now  
CTG2: depends on how quickly my other asshole selves clean up their time loops  
TT: So your new trick to win a strife is through numbers.  
CTG2: nah i dont need em to kick your ass at this point  
CTG2: but im sure youd like me to prove it so  
CTG2: wind castle. strife. now.

Your hands are shaking and you aren't sure if that's a tremor in your breaths, or if the wind whipping against you as you fly towards the castle is throwing you off.

Bro is alive.

Of course you knew he was in this timeline, even if he'd apparently vanished into thin air from Davesprite's perspective. You're not sure what's up with that, but you can ask him about it later.

Holy shit, you can ask him about it later.

You can talk to him again.

There's this strange cocktail of nerves and euphoria tingling through you by the time you land on the broad ledge surrounding the castle. You hope you get a chance to time-zap him away before you actually have to strife, because you aren't sure if you could keep a steady hold on your sword at this point. 

Even with a bit of time to wait, you can't make yourself calm down. You keep your feet glued to the ground and you force your breathing to stay even. You read the memo as all the other Daves who could make it sound off to let you know they're nearby, and you distract yourself by listening to Derse Dave complain about the flight for a few minutes.

For a guy who loves to be dramatic, Bro's arrival is pretty casual.

One moment there's nothing in front of you, and the next, there's a blur of black and white, a breath of air, and there he is. Exactly as you remember him before you found his body. Pristine clothes, not a hair out of place, sword in his hand, head held high, shades where they belong. It's like he was never even dead.

Technically, this one never was.

"You got taller, lil' man." Bro comments, because of course he would pick up on something like that so quickly. It almost startles a laugh out of you, and your throat aches when you swallow it back.

"Yeah." You manage to keep your voice mostly steady, despite how far off kilter you feel. There's just the faintest croak in it, but Bro's head still tilts by a fraction as if he somehow noticed.

"Sounding a little rough around the edges, too. You sure you're up for a strife?" His tone is borderline mocking, and he seems to be oozing cockiness, but you can see his words for what they are. The hidden concern there makes you want to cry. Makes you want to break down and spill everything right here and now like a weak bitch.

"About that." There's an undeniable rasp in your voice now, but it doesn't matter. Bro doesn't even get a chance to start asking what the hell is up before you push your powers forward and whisk him into the future.

And just like that, it's over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is not over, we have one more chapter to go.
> 
> (And no more pesterlogs. I would weep for joy, if I weren't a freak who found it oddly enjoyable. Maybe that's just the novelty talking, though.)


	5. Chapter 5

**==> Dave: Return.**

It took a bit more time to get every time loop squared away, but eventually you find yourself standing back in Caledfwlch's empty temple with no more alt Daves and nothing left for you to do.

The realization that you really did it, you really saved the guardians, is already sinking in. As soon as you saw Bro alive and well, it started actually sinking in.

As soon as you go back to your timeline, they'll all be there.

It's almost too much to think about, so you don't. You force yourself to just plunge in head first and close your eyes, leave this place behind and return to the moment you'd been occupying when you first jumped back.

And like a rubber band, you snap back into place almost instantly.

"How was your trip?" Rose greets you with a knife-sharp smile, and you keep your eyes directly on her for now. Just for now, until you can bring yourself to look at the rest of the room and the people in it. You think she's doing the same.

"I am officially retiring from time travel for fucking good. The kind of retired that comes with thirty years at a company and goodbye casseroles. We're talking office party with cake and serious tears retired."

Fuck, you're tired. You think you'd be shaking even without the emotional bombshell waiting to go off in here. Your head aches, your muscles ache, your stomach clenches around nothing, your throat feels like sandpaper, and you really need a fucking nap.

"Again?" Rose lifts a deceptively innocent eyebrow at you, and you return the look with your most deadpan poker face available.

You would probably flip her off or chew her out with as many theatrics as possible, but a very distinct fatherly cough interrupts the two of you. Rose's eyes flick past your shoulder and you know she's facing the reality of what you two have done all at once. So you square your shoulders and turn around to share that weight.

For a moment, it seems comically unimpressive. Egbert is standing the closest, looking you both over with a restrained sort of bafflement. Like he's painfully curious but too polite to actually let the floodgates open. Rose's mother is beside him, soft pink eyes open wide and black-painted lips parted as she stares at her daughter.

And she opens those floodgates with a squeal and a pounce.

"Rosie, look how tall you got! You're eben- even bigger now!" Despite wearing three-inch heels, that woman can move. She darts past you and wastes no time in throwing her arms around Rose, and you take a moment to stare at the spectacle, just like everybody else. For all the times Rose complained about her mother being distant and passive aggressive, this sure is a warm greeting.

And you can see Rose choking on her tears. There's so much emotion in her right now, and you can also see the slight panic on her face. Rose is a very private person when it comes to her vulnerability, just like you. She would rather throw herself into the void than cry in a room full of people she doesn't trust, and that goes double for a room of adults.

"Cool, so while that reunion is happening, how about we take this somewhere not here?" You turn back to the remaining three adults, and you feel your skin crawl as all of their eyes land on you. The moment you see Dadbert's eyebrows furrowing with protest, you decide to take more forceful action.

Despite how tired you are, it's not a challenge for you to jump everyone in the room (minus Lalondes) ahead a couple hours. They probably wouldn't even realize it, except for the fact that Rose and her mother have effectively vanished into thin air from their perspectives.

"By Jove!" Grandpa Harley's exclamation booms out so loud that you want to flinch, but you manage to keep your impassive front up. You really aren't sure how long you can actually maintain that with Bro still hovering in your periphery like a statue, but you're gonna damn well try.

"What...did you do?" Egbert's frowning fully now, looking at you with a perfect cocktail of concern, confusion, and mild disapproval.

"Just jumped us ahead a couple hours. Thought we should give the ladies a little time to themselves." You shrug and cross your arms casually. You're sure only one other person in the room will notice the way you're digging your fingertips into your arms.

"Well, I say! Whatever is all this 'time jumping' nonsense over anyway?" Harley, thankfully, provides a good distraction. He's got a booming voice, a big presence, and he's asking the right questions.

"It would be nice to know exactly why you brought us all here." Egbert adds, with the tone of voice that suggests that he's really demanding an explanation rather than asking for one.

This is actually kind of difficult to deal with, now that you're here. You know all the cold hard facts and it would be easy to spit them all out, and you know that would work if it was just you and Bro. But you get the feeling Egbert and Harley need a little more delicacy and context, and you don't really have the people skills for that...

"I believe those questions would be best aimed at me." Rose's voice carries through the room loud and clear. She's standing in the doorway with her mother right behind, both of them looking far more composed now than the last time you saw each other.

Rose's eyes lock with yours through your shades, and even with your poker face still on, you're sure she can pick up on your gratitude. There's a knowing look that she sends you, and you get the feeling that she's paying back the favor from earlier.

"Gadzooks, there you two are! I was quite certain we had just lost track of each other entirely!" Harley seems to have no qualms with flipping his attention over to the Lalondes, and Egbert is right on his heels. Rose and her mother seem to have worked some things out in record time, because they work together to herd those two out of the room so smoothly that nobody even looks back.

Thank goodness for Rose Lalonde.

Even if you're all alone with Bro now.

It's hard. It's hard, facing your guardian when he miraculously comes back from the dead, and nobody understands.

...Well, okay, one or two other people might understand, but you don't think Bro quite gets why you're struggling to even look at him right now.

"...So, care to give me the abridged version, lil' man?" He's crossing his arms too, but it seems to just be an honest casual motion for him. Just his way of settling in place, as opposed to the death grip you've got on your arms now.

You nod and take a sneaky deep breath, and you're eternally thankful for the fact that you can be as blunt and direct with him as you want.

"We're in the alpha timeline now. You were in a doomed one before. One where you just would've faded away once shit got fixed. So Rose and I figured it couldn't hurt to just...bring you here." You shrug again, and it's a lot less controlled this time. Your walls are cracking, and you're so fucking tired, and you're still dangerously close to losing it.

Bro's got this little furrow in the middle of his brow. The kind he always gets when he's really thinking about something. You never thought you'd get to see him frown like that again. Never thought you'd get to see him again at all.

"And there ain't gonna be doubles of us running around?" He sounds like he already suspects the answer, and your shrug is a lot weaker now.

"All the guardians in our timeline died, Bro. Unbeatable god boss got everyone except maybe Jades grandpa, but he wound up dead somehow anyways, so..." That rasp is edging back into your voice again, and you don't think you can blame it on needing some water. Bro doesn't seem to think so either, because his frown is getting a lot deeper.

"Shit, little man." His voice is softer than you were expecting, like he _gets_ it. Like he actually gets what it's been like for you this past year.

"Been a rough ride." You admit quietly. And that's it, that's you tapping out; your admission that all of this has actually been taking a toll, that you're tired, that you just need a fucking _break_ .

Bro gets it. He's always been able to read you no matter how hard you tried to shield yourself from him, and you're not even trying at all right now. It still takes you off guard when he flash-steps in front of you, but you sure as hell can't complain when the next thing you feel is a pair of strong arms pulling you against him.

It would almost be embarrassing, how eagerly you lean into it, if it weren't for the fact that you don't give a singular shit about that in the moment. You're too busy hugging him back as tightly as you can and reveling in it. He's warm again, nothing like the last time you touched him. He's warm, and you can feel him breathing, and if you listen closely you can even hear his heartbeat from where your head is mashed against his chest.

You've never felt such a visceral sense of relief in your life.

Unfortunately, your body takes away two things from that relief. A) it's time to turn on the waterworks, no matter how hard you're fighting that shit. And B) it's all clear to take a break and there's really no need to be standing or anything right now.

You manage to avoid falling over like an 18th century damsel wearing a corset in the noonday sun, at least. That does involve sagging heavily against Bro, but he's got a good enough hold on you that it works. It does manage to be embarrassing, though; especially 'cause you know he's gonna feel that growing damp spot on his shirt any second now, and the way he's shifted means he's noticed your severe case of spaghetti knees.

"Sorry." Your voice is dangerously watery, but you manage to keep it from breaking at least. "Been running all over the Incipisphere looking for you guys. I'd say I was working overtime but honestly I don't know if that's even a thing for me anymore, all things considered."

"The fifty extra Daves didn't help?" He's teasing you, you can tell, but you can't really find it in you to get annoyed at this point.

"Dude, those Daves were still all me. I had to go through the time loops to be them and shit, not like I just make clones of myself."

You've gotten enough control over yourself to step back slightly. Bro's for once polite enough to make no comment when you quickly swipe your sleeve over your cheeks. You're kind of glad that he's kept one arm around your shoulders, though. It feels safe, and you maybe kinda really need that stability right now.

"Well shit. You've gotta be wiped."

"Kinda." You don't even bother shrugging. You're actually completely wiped, but you're trying to keep it together here. Can't go snoozing when you've still gotta get everyone up to date and situated. "Pretty fucking hungry, actually. You wanna get a bite? No takeout on this rock, but the alchemiter can make basically anything we want, so it all balances out in the end."

"No kidding? Wonder if it can make Chinese, then." Bro nods a little at the prospect, using the arm around your shoulders to start guiding you towards the door. "Lead the way, lil' man."

So you lead the way. Not very quickly, if you're being honest here. You might be going a little slow, but Bro doesn't rush you. You spend the extra time on the walk filling him in on all the major events. It doesn't take nearly as long as it could, since you use pretty brief explanations and he doesn't demand much elaboration. You explain Jack and the Scratch, the plan for the Green Sun, the meteor you're on that's travelling towards a new session, the trolls.

Bro's in the middle of asking you if there's seriously a vampire alien wandering around when you both enter the commons room, and that question answers itself. Kanaya is standing next to the alchemiter with her fingertips primly pressing against her forehead, looking appropriately exasperated as she speaks with Harley. Rose is watching with the kind of smirk that tells you she's revelling in another person's misery as she punches codes into the machine, while her mother and Egbert are both sat on one of the couches. Hand in hand, no less. It's kind of cute, but you have the feeling it could get really old really fast.

You make it about halfway inside before a new contender enters the ring.

"AND WHAT THE BULGE-CHAFING FUCK HAPPENED HERE?!"

Bro tenses minutely beside you. It's slight, but you can feel his fingers dig into your shoulder and tug you a fraction closer. You don't think he's been so blatantly protective of you since you were a little kid, and you wish you could take a moment to enjoy it. But you've got an issue to deal with. That issue being a very on-edge looking Karkat picking his jaw up in the doorway.

"I LEAVE YOU NOOK-STAINS ALONE FOR TEN MINUTES AND YOU SOMEHOW MANAGE TO MULTIPLY! HOW DID YOU EVEN PULL THIS OFF?"

"Dude. Chill." You shake your head. Karkat's eyes snap over to you, and you swear you can see steam coming out of his pointy little ears.

"I WILL MOST CERTAINLY NOT FUCKING 'CHILL', STRIDER. I CAN ALREADY TELL YOU HAD A HAND IN THIS. WHAT DID YOU EVEN DO?" You open your mouth, and he levels a finger at you. "AND DON'T YOU FUCKING SAY 'SHENANIGANS' OR I WILL RAM THAT PIECE OF SHIT YOU CALL A SWORD UP YOUR WASTE CHUTE."

"Hey." You raise your hands placatingly. "It's a legendary piece of shit, I'll have you know."

"STRIDER, EVERY SENTENCE THAT LEAVES YOUR SQUAWK GAPER IS A LEGENDARY PIECE OF SHIT. NOW HOW ABOUT PRODUCING A USEFUL LEGENDARY PIECE OF SHIT AND TRY EXPLAINING THIS MESS." Karkat sweeps his hand over the entirety of the room, lips peeled back in what you think is disgust, though it might just be his version of a grimace from the migraine you suspect is a permanent feature in his skull.

"Dave and I thought of a method through which we may save our guardians. As it turns out, we were correct in our predictions." Rose pipes up with the most sober cheer you've seen from her in a while. It's almost enough to break your poker face for the sake of a smile. Almost.

"YES, I CAN SEE THAT, LALONDE. THANK YOU. WOULD YOU MIND EXPLAINING TO ME HOW YOU DID THIS WITHOUT DOOMING US ALL? OR DID YOU NOT THINK THAT FAR AHEAD? SHOULD I CLEAR ROOM IN MY BUSY SCHEDULE FOR IMPENDING DESTRUCTION?"

You roll your eyes pointlessly behind your shades. Karkat's walked farther into the room by now, and you finally leave Bro's side to get closer to him. Unceremoniously, you press a hand against his cheek, papping it a couple times while he stares at you like you've grown a second head.

"Karkat. Dude. Calm the fuck down. Shoosh. We took them out of a doomed timeline. Our timeline is not going to spontaneously fucking combust like a sink full of fireworks on the Fourth of July, okay, chill."

For a few moments he just splutters, and it takes a Herculean effort on your part not to smirk a little as you watch red coloring his cheeks all the way up to his ear tips. And then the shock wears off and his arms start flailing, knocking your hand off before he yanks the collar of his sweater up to hide his face.

"STRIDER, DID YOU JUST FUCKING SHOOSH-PAP ME?!"

"Hey, stopped you from going into conniptions, didn't it?"

"OH MY GOG, NO. NO, WE AREN'T DOING THIS. IT'S TOO FUCKING EARLY IN THE WHATEVER FOR YOUR CULTURALLY INSENSITIVE HOOFBEAST SHIT."

Your attempts to pap him again earn you a slapped hand and a glare, so you shrug and just float back to where you were standing before. "Alright, alright, I'll leave you to your shitty coffee while you have a hernia."

There's a wave of very audible grumbles from Karkat as he stomps over to the coffee maker, but he seems to be resolute in not interacting with anyone now. Fine by you, honestly, 'cause you don't really have the energy to be dealing with his high-energy bullshit right now.

Bro's got a slightly lifted eyebrow, but he thankfully doesn't ask. You shrug and he shrugs, and you both start heading for the alchemiter again. Just before you can line up behind Rose and badger her to move her neon-orange ass, the platform flashes and two boxes of Chinese takeout sit ready and waiting. Your mouth is already watering, and you barely get a second to thank her before a bottle of apple juice and can of orange soda join the food.

"Rose, you're an angel. Good friend. Best ecto-sister." You give her a quick nod and catch a glimpse of an overly smug smile, but you really can't bring yourself to care as you scoop up your half of the food. Bro follows suit in a blur, flash-stepping to a couch on the other side of the room in a blink.

"Considering you did all of the leg work, it only seems fair." Rose's smile softens just for a moment, letting you read between the lines of her words without any hassle. She's thankful that her mother is back and trying to show it. You just nod slightly in acknowledgement of all that before slipping past her, heading over to Bro.

He hasn't started eating yet, and you can't help but appreciate the gesture. As soon as you sink down onto the spot opposite to his, he starts to dig in. You waste no time doing the same.

The silence as you two eat is comfortable and familiar. Sure you aren't on the futon, but everyone else in the room still provides the same sort of background noise as the flat screen used to. You could almost trick yourself into believing that nothing's changed. That you're home just having dinner with Bro, or that you two have always been on this meteor and this is a part of your everyday lives.

Everyone else has apparently settled by the time you start sipping your AJ. Rose is sitting on the couch with her mother and Egbert, nursing a cup of tea and talking with them. Harley is toying with the alchemiter, and Kanaya seems pleased when he makes his own meal. Karkat's vacated the room, probably needing some time to process and calm the fuck down in private.

Overall it's pretty nice, pretty peaceful. Your eyes are drooping behind your shades by the time you finish your juice, and the couch feels unusually comfortable when you lean farther back. You fall asleep to the sound of people talking and the knowledge that when you wake up again, they'll all still be there in the morning.


End file.
